For a leisurely day trip out of London, look no farther than Cambridge, England. Just about an hour by train out of central London, Cambridge is most famous for its University, which was founded in 1209 and is the third-oldest continuously operating university in the world!
The city has been built up around the university and there is a plethora of museums and beautiful architecture to admire.
The most famous pastime in Cambridge is punting. Don’t worry- I had never heard of it either.
Punting involves a long wooden boat, steered by a “punter” who pushes against the river bed with a long pole- not too dissimilar from a Venetian Gondola! The River Cam winds its way through the center of Cambridge, so punting is a great way to see the city from a new angle. Some of these views are inaccessible from the land!
Of course, we were visiting during one of the coldest winters England has had in ages, so no amount of discounts or mulled wine was getting us out onto the water, despite the best efforts of the punters we passed by.
There are several companies that offer guided boat tours with their own professional punters, but I’m told it’s pretty fun to hire a boat and do it yourself- as long as you’re a quick learner and ready for a solid workout.
Some of the sights worth looking out for in Cambridge include:
The Mathematical Bridge– a bridge composed entirely of straight pieces of wood creating an arch that spans across the River Cam
The Eagle, the second oldest pub in Cambridge, a popular RAF bar, where World War II era graffiti can still be spotted, and where Francis Crick had first excitedly announced that he and James Watson had discovered “the secret of life”- DNA.
Nearby, the Corpus Clock is a massive golden structure with a giant grasshopper on it. It kind of freaked me out a little, but it was difficult to ignore. More of a sculpture than a timepiece, the clock is only accurate every five minutes and is intentionally designed to be an unsettling commentary on the passage of time.
Fitzbillies comes up on nearly every list of things to do in Cambridge for their famous Chelsea buns, but if the line gets a little too long, I recommend Aromi for Sicilian-style treats.
We couldn’t leave the city without perusing through the stalls at the historic market square. Since we were visiting in December, there was a distinct holiday theme amongst the goods, but the market is open year round and offers anything from clothes to fresh vegetables.
My very favorite stop on our trip to Cambridge was to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Not only was it an excellent escape from the frigid weather, but it was a truly excellent museum in its own right- and we’d been to quite a few over the past few weeks.
Upon entering, we were immediately impressed by the gorgeous architecture of the lobby- especially the ceiling! Although we’d arrived not expecting much out of the museum, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of master artists included in the collection. There’s nothing like stumbling upon a Monet when you’re least expecting it.
My favorite part of the museum was its temporary “Defaced!” exhibition, which is unfortunately long since finished, which was a really good collection of citizens defacing currency as a form of protest. There were so many interesting pieces!
If art and antiquities aren’t your thing, the Fitzwilliam Museum is one of an eight part consortium of the University of Cambridge museums, so there’s likely to be something to interest every visitor.
Walking around the city was also a lovely experience. Since we hadn’t taken a tour, we didn’t learn the histories of all of the historic buildings, but had a nice enough time admiring the architecture without the context.
Although small, Cambridge has enough activities to make for a good day trip for tourists, while still keeping their community of students entertained throughout the year. It broke my heart to only visit one museum during our trip, but the Fitzwilliam was so large, we just didn’t have time to squeeze in a second one into our schedule!
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